The Omega Team: Tough Target (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF

people.”
    “Well, that acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
    “What?”
    “Never mind.” Kate pointed into the shadows, near the water’s edge. “I found something you ought to see. Come on.”
    ***
    Kate never expected to see Sam Rafferty in the flesh—not on purpose. Her physical reaction to straddling his hard body had lingered and would no doubt invade her dreams. Sam had always been the kind of guy that a woman would not easily forget. She knew that firsthand.
    She respected Geneva and looked after her, knowing Sam’s job kept him traveling all over the world with the Omega Team, but a small part of her secretly fantasized about a chance meeting every time she visited his mother.
    “Is this your mom’s canoe?” Kate leaned into the wind and winced with the worsening rain.
    She shoved aside brush to show him the discarded boat that had been pulled to shore and flicked on the Kel-light she had strapped to her duty belt.
    “More blood,” he said, pointing. “Are those bullet holes?”
    “Yeah. Someone must’ve found her boat and made sure no one could use it again. What do you make of that?”
    Sam peered through the darkness with a strained look. Even in the murky shadows, Kate couldn’t mistake his fraying nerves. The guy lived his life on the edge to protect his country and the freedoms of others. He wouldn’t know how to be a victim. It would tear him apart to lose the one person he loved most in the world—his mother—to a faceless enemy and an unmerciful hurricane, but she resisted the urge to hug him, as she would have in the past. Sam looked worried sick and she knew he could use the support, but she couldn’t trust the pull of her feelings.
    Now wasn’t the time to lust after Sam Rafferty, not when his poor mother was in serious trouble, but Kate couldn’t stop her mind and body from reacting to him. She’d had a taste of him when they were both younger. She’d lost her virginity to him at a time when neither of them was ready for anything serious. They both had physical needs back then—screwing like rabbits for months—with no thought of the future.
    Even though she had been the one to call it off—the guy could be insufferable and seriously got under her skin—but he was the human equivalent of deep-dish meat lover’s pizza with gooey hot cheese.
    One enticing slice had never been enough.
    “Have you looked for her…body?” His voice caught. “Maybe they shot her in the boat and dumped her—” He couldn’t finish.
    Kate shook her head.
    “I don’t think so. There’d be more blood in the bottom of the canoe.” She touched his arm until he looked at her. “The way the boat was pulled onto land and hoisted into the brush, I’m thinking someone thought they were close, but she gave them the slip. They shot the hell out of her boat, because she outsmarted them. The number of bullets says they were pissed.”
    Sam crooked his lip into a lazy smile.
    “She’s ornery. Yeah, I can see that happening,” he said. “You have a theory?”
    “Well, you know Geneva better than I do, but she’s wounded. If we didn’t have this storm, she could’ve eventually gotten to help, but I’ve been downstream. People are gone and homes are boarded up.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I’m thinking she used the boat to send whoever shot her on a wild goose chase. She could’ve let the canoe drift downriver as a decoy.”
    Sam winced.
    “If she did, that means we’ll have trouble locating her, too.” He stared out toward the rising flood waters.
    “She could be anywhere between here and the cabin,” he said. “That’s lots of ground to cover. We may not have much time to find her. She could be unconscious and bleeding out.”
    “Don’t borrow trouble, Sam, and don’t give up hope.” Kate pressed her hand to his chest until he fixed his gaze on her. “I believe your mother is alive, but she needs our help. When we find her, I have first aid in my truck. You have any